Enough is not enough

As we enter the season of contemplation and reflection, why do some nations choose to engage in corruption, even in sport?

After the Panama Papers scandal and other serious allegations of corruption in football, the latest in the series comes from South Korea. The country’s President, Park Geun-hye is facing impeachment and prosecution over allegations of corruption and influence-peddling. She has been paralyzed by a bizarre scandal and an escalating public backlash that could make her the first South Korean leader to be removed from office.

But even as her approval rating slips into the low single digits, Ms Park is defiant, meaning that South Korea’s worst crisis in decades is likely to drag on for months, leaving her conservative government distracted and in disarray while it grapples with a slowing economy and rising debt.

From South Korea we fly to China. Here too, State-controlled capitalism and corruption have led to the demise of the Communist ideal of a classless society. While some 800 million people in China have been lifted out of poverty in the last few decades, the economic reforms have produced a new underclass of lowpaid urban workers, including migrants from the country’s rural areas. The new lower class is stuck at the bottom of the ladder.

Ever since the introduction of the market economy, Chinese corruption has expanded in such a way that it is now a top concern of every Chinese citizen. At the core of the corrupt culture are wealthy businessmen, state monopolies, private property developers and government officials.

Why do people in high positions persist in embracing corrupt ideals? When will they realize that enough is enough? Citizens of every nation choose their representatives and elect democratic governments to lead them by example and not by the rule of the jungle. It is absolutely imperative that the rule of law is observed by every democratically-elected government... and this includes our government as well.

Jos Edmond Zarb Birkirkara